Star Force: Resurrection (SF84) (Star Force Origin Series) Read Free Page A

for the drones to skirt around it solo,
leaving the giant manned ships back to lick their wounds while their crews
hunted down the remaining lizard ships.
    This battle was already won, but Paul wasn’t going to
allow an extra drone to get destroyed out of sloppiness, and that’s exactly
what the lizards were attempting to do before they died. They were maneuvering
around the debris rather than making a suicidal charge, getting Star Force to
chase them in the hopes of setting an ambush for one or more of the drones.
    But so long as he and other Archons were watching over
and guiding the battle they didn’t have a chance. It took another 5 hours to
clean up what was left of the lizards near Paul’s jumppoint, then he finally
was able to let his mind wind down as he checked the status of the other fleets
around the system.
    Four were already clear, with the other seven being in
their final stages of cleaning up as well. There had been over 12 million
lizard cruisers here and some 730,000 Star Force drones carried by 9,421
jumpships, plus 73 command ships. Paul was grateful that this had not been one
massive battle, for his alone had been far too large and his mind was starting
to object fiercely now that the adrenaline was wearing off.
    The crew had been rotating in and out, so they were
all fairly fresh, but he was not. Even with his Inas he was barely holding his
mind together after such a long, continuous intense effort.
    Paul walked out of the nexus and down the short hall,
turning the corner and coming onto the bridge where he caught Franken’s
attention.
    “Admiral, I’ve got to crash. Hold the fleet here until
the others get done fighting, but get us clear of the debris field…no, check
that. Start clearing the jump lane. Nudge it to the side so we can recover it
later. Unless we come under attack again, don’t wake me. I’ll get back to you
when I’m sane again.”
    “Understood. Do you want a courier sent back warning
of the minefield?”
    Paul hesitated, kicking himself for not thinking of
that. “Find out if anyone has done that already and send one if they haven’t. I
am so brain fried right now.”
    “Most of the Archons didn’t rest,” the Admiral told
him, having already checked their status. “The fleet can hold itself together
while you guys crash. I promise we won’t break anything until you wake up.”
    Paul nodded. “Good work today…or, days. Make sure the
crew knows it. That was a nasty fight after a nasty ambush and no one tanked.”
    “Did you expect them to?” the Admiral asked, a mix of
curiosity and wounded pride.
    “I don’t know what I expected. We haven’t lost that
many people in a very long time,” Paul said, rubbing his eyes. “Damn I’m fried.
Anything else I’m forgetting?”
    “We just destroyed the largest fleet in lizard
history.”
    “That we know of…and it’s still not over yet. If the
others ask for help be ready to send it, but I don’t think they will. And get
some ships in low orbit so no lizards can sneak out.”
    “And we can poach any incoming traffic?”
    “Yeah,” Paul said, unable to stifle a yawn. “I’m out
of here.”
    “Take as much time as you need,” Franken insisted as
Paul walked off the bridge. He got halfway to his quarters when he saw Riona
step out in front of him, surprised that he hadn’t noticed her mental presence
before that.
    “You alright?” she asked, not looking all that well
herself having come from a secondary nexus onboard the ship.
    “Fried. You?”
    “Yeah, but that’s not what I meant.”
    “What then?”
    “The mines.”
    Paul’s face slacked a bit, but he didn’t have much
wherewithal left in him to lose. He was starting to get dizzy now that he
wasn’t forcing himself to hold together during the battle. “I’m not ok with it,
but it feels like it happened a long time ago. How are you doing?”
    “Ticked and tired. Wanna crash?”
    “That’s where I’m headed.”
    “My quarters are